The new student loan system in Chile’s higher education

Chile’s higher education system stands out as being one of the most privatized and open to the market in the world. Recently, the Chilean Congress passed Law # 20.027 of 2005, which provides the legal framework for the creation of a student loan system guaranteed both by the State and by higher education institutions (HEIs), financed by the private capital market through the securitization of the loans. The system operated for the first time in 2006, where approximately 21,000 students were able to access financing of their higher education for the remainder of their careers. It is expected that as the system matures, more and better information will be available, which will benefit the students and the HEIs; and it is highly likely that the current number of financed students could grow significantly in the next few years. The purpose of this article is to describe the outstanding characteristics of this system, explain its conceptual basis and analyze the public policy choices available in its design.

Quality management in Hungarian higher education: organisational responses to governmental policy

This article focuses on responses of higher education institutions to governmental policy. We investigate the influence of organisational characteristics on the implementation of quality management in Hungarian higher education institutions. Our theoretical framework is based on organisational theories (resource dependency and neo-institutionalism), Allison’s models on organisational decision-making processes, and also addresses some of the more specific characteristics of higher education institutions. Our empirical investigation shows that organisational characteristics matter in policy implementation of quality management in Hungarian higher education. Certain organisational variables, viz. leaders’ commitment to the implementation process, the involvement of external consultants, institutional reputation, and bureaucratic and political decision-making processes have strong effects on the implementation of quality management. Characteristics particular to higher education institutions were much less influential.

Quality and equity in the Mongolian education sector

This case study identifies four targets groups that are specific to the achievement of the EFA Millennium Development Goals in Mongolia: boys, out-of-school children, vulnerable children and minorities, and children of herders. Boys from herder families in remote rural areas are at the greatest risk of drop-out or non-enrollment. The case study therefore focuses on problems with access to education for boys from nomadic herder families. The inverse gender gap in the Mongolian education sector is a well-explored topic in educational policy research. What is lacking, however, is a more comprehensive look at how, and why, the combination of gender, household income and location of school—urban, semi-urban, rural—affect access to education in Mongolia.

The geography of access and excellence: spatial diversity in higher education system design

In a “settler society” such as Canada, inequalities in higher education have geo-political dimensions, necessitating a theoretical framework that considers the geographic distribution of material wealth and power. This paper explores both the economic and social implications of the geographical distribution of the higher education system in British Columbia, Canada, including the ways in which stratification by institutional type may reinforce spatial inequalities. The study shows that system expansion has not improved regional representation, which has socio-economic implications.

Evaluating student allocation in the Portuguese public higher education system

This paper characterizes and evaluates the student allocation in the Portuguese public higher education system. It describes the supply and demand sides of the system by looking at the numerus clausus across areas of study and institutions, institutions’ degree of diversity, and performance and adjustment indicators based on students’ revealed preferences. Performance indicators quantify the adequacy between demand and supply, across institutions and fields of study, and gauge the performance of public higher education institutions in the competition for candidates. Adjustment indicators allow us to predict the potential impact of changes in higher education regulations on student allocation and its stability. According to these indicators, such changes could result in an expansion for some institutions and fields of study, whereas other institutions might face a reduction.

Changing the course: equity effects and institutional risk amid policy shift in higher education financing in Kenya

Reform in higher education financing in Kenya has been occasioned by both endogenous and exogenous variables. Internal pressures of a declining economy, rapid demographic growth and increased inter-and intra-sectoral competition for scare financial resources, couple with external neo-liberal doctrine championed by global donors like the World Bank have resulted in a new market-competitive policy of financing higher education. This paper analyzes the equity and risk effects of the new policy for the main stakeholders, namely students, academics and institutions themselves. The paper contends that the policy shift has had a significant effect on equity just as it has introduced universities to risks through engagement in academic capitalism with its emphasis on marketization of university programs and services. The paper concludes with suggestions on some policy options that could help to mitigate the negative consequences of this new policy.

Analysis of Korean students’ international mobility by 2-D model: driving force factor and directional factor

The purpose of this study is to understand the dynamics of Korean students’ international mobility to study abroad by using the 2-D Model. The first D, the driving force factor, explains how and what components of the dissatisfaction with domestic higher education perceived by Korean students drives students’ outward mobility to seek foreign higher education. The second D, the directional factor, describes the factors that influence the choice of destination country for students’ outward mobility, and is explained by the comparison of Korean students’ perceptions on the images of universities in the U.S., China, the U.K., and Australia and their expectations for higher education in each country (categorized as ‘academic’–‘environmental’). Two questionnaire surveys were conducted to analyze the two D factors and the research findings were integrated into suggestions for each country’s higher education institutions that can be incorporated into their recruitment strategies for international students.

Market orientation in managing relationships with multiple constituencies of Croatian higher education

In this paper, market orientation in Croatian higher education (HE) is discussed within the context of stakeholder-oriented management. Drawing on existing studies, the ‘classical’ empirical model, describing the market orientation of generic nonprofit organisations, has been adapted to the contingencies of the Croatian HE sector. Empirical testing of the model, based on primary data drawn from the majority of public institutions of higher learning in the country, reveals inadequate market orientation toward the relevant stakeholders. Although social market orientation currently does not exist in Croatian HE institutions, the empirical results confirm that it might be possible to initiate a ‘virtuous circle’, in which relevant market orientation and stakeholder management practices, directed toward one or other of the stakeholders, simultaneously enhance orientation toward the other stakeholders. Unfortunately, the current situation in HE is not satisfactory, which could hinder the implementation of development of knowledge society in Croatia.

A Simple Unifying Measure of State Support for Postsecondary Education

Conflicting measures of state support for postsecondary education create confusion and misunderstanding that convolute debates about states’ postsecondary education funding. The use of multiple measures is largely unnecessary, though. A simple single measure is constructed that adequately quantifies both states’ postsecondary need and states’ ability to pay. Specifically, this study proposes measuring state support for postsecondary education as state postsecondary funding per high school graduate over the previous four years per dollar of per capita income.

Academic social cohesion within higher education

This article explores the theoretical foundations of social cohesion as it relates to higher education institutions. In so doing it seeks (a) to understand the core elements of social cohesion—social capital, human capital and ethical behavioural norms that serve a common good—and (b) to establish a flexible framework for understanding the combined contributions of higher education to society. Tertiary institutional phenomena (those occurring in higher education) that are involved in the creation of social cohesion are hereafter termed academic social cohesion. The particular emphasis is on higher education’s role in cultivating moral awareness as a vital product of institutions’ primary activities. These core functions of colleges and universities are discussed in relation to both academic social cohesion and the degree to which they should involve the creation of specific ethical norms.

Making the Muscular Briton

The subject of this article is ‘The Royal Readers’, a group of reading anthologies published in Britain by Thomas Nelson between 1872 and 1881 for use in elementary schools. The focus is not on their contribution to the teaching of reading but rather on how they functioned as the tools of an education system conceived primarily as an agent of socialisation. Using examples drawn directly from the texts, it is shown by what means the educators sought to transmit the ideology of imperialism and to define for working-class children – especially boys – a future role in Empire. The article concludes by speculating on the possible impact on pupils of the kind of reading experience offered by these materials.

Homicides in Higher Education: Some Reflections on the Moral Mission of the University

This essay on the ethical mission of the university explores extremes of anti-social behavior, visiting numerous crime scenes before concluding that contemporary higher education has lost the capacity—and even the language—for taking character development seriously. In his attempt to determine whether coincidently traditional-liberationist-diversiphilic-apathetic colleges can morally improve their charges, Peter Wood collects a wrenching compendium of violent academic mayhem.

The Social effects of the Australian Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS)

Australia’s Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) is an income contingent loan scheme, in which university students pay back part of the costs of their tuition after their post-university income reaches a certain threshold, is an important policy innovation for the financing of higher education. However, its critics claim that HECS increases socioeconomic inequalities in higher education and the HECS debt reduces the ability of young people to make the transitions to adulthood. This paper investigates these claims. There is no evidence that socioeconomic inequalities in higher education in Australia increased after the implementation of HECS in 1989 or the 1997 reforms. The magnitude of the HECS debt was found to have a negative impact on the transition to parenthood, but had no negative impacts on other transitions to adulthood: leaving the parental home, marriage and home ownership. Its effects on parenthood were moderate compared to other influences, such as full-time work in the previous year, marriage and being in a de facto relationship. Furthermore, only a small proportion of young people who attended university have large enough HECS debts for it to affect their fertility decisions.

The Way to Wealth and the Way to Leisure: The Impact of College Education on Graduates’ Earnings and Hours of Work

This study extends the analysis of the economic return of college education up to 10 years after college education and further examines the impact of college education on graduates’ hours of work. The results suggest that variation in hours of work explains a portion of earnings differentials among college graduates. Graduates from high-quality private institutions tend to work longer hours than their peers from other types of institutions. Female graduates spend fewer hours working than their male counterparts. As far as family background is concerned, graduates from high-income families tend to work longer hours and first-generation college graduates tend to work fewer hours. Finally, business majors seem to work longer hours while health and public affair majors less hours.

Antecedents and Correlates of Course Cancellation in a University “Drop and Add” Period

Most institutions of higher education allow students to drop or add courses in the first 2–3 weeks of each term (D&A). Arguing that course cancellation is not merely an administrative issue involving enrollment trends but represents complex decision making processes taken by students, this study investigated antecedents and correlates of course cancellation during a D&A period in 109 elective courses. Student ratings of the teachers (SRT) and characteristics of the syllabi distributed in the first class session were investigated as predictors of course cancellation. Rates of cancellation were significantly predicted from SRT and from syllabus workload difficulty—lower quality teachers (SRT-based) and more difficult courses (syllabus-based) being cancelled more frequently. Analysis of a sub-sample of truly elective, high-priority courses revealed that these correlations were intensified in teacher-centered lecture courses, but nullified in student-centered seminar courses, in which students write independent research papers. The importance of students’ course selection and course cancellation as decision making processes, the methodology based on institutional data rather than students’ self-reports, and the unique effects of course difficulty on students’ decisions were discussed.

Student and early career mobility patterns among highly educated people in Germany,Finland, Italy,and the United Kingdom

This article addresses the question of how great are higher education students’ incentives to change study programs or institutions to improve one’s personal employability in the course of the higher education-to-work transition process. The posed question is addressed at a system level. Students’ mobility between programs and institutions is referred to as ‘student mobility’ and graduates’ mobility between jobs is referred to as ‘early career mobility.’ The relationship between these two separate components of mobility is discussed in three different institutional frames: German/Finnish, Italian, and British. When depicting the relationship between the two components of mobility, the article also considers parallel phenomena such as prolongation of the degree-earning process and participation in work-life with student status. Indicator level analysis concerning graduates of the year 2000 reveals important differences between the three institutional frames: in Germany and Finland, there is a high level of student mobility at the basic degree level combined with a low level of career mobility after graduation; in the UK the opposite transition logic than that of Germany and Finland occurs, and in Italy students demonstrate prolonged transitions with little student mobility and early career mobility.

Mentoring College Students: A Critical Review of the Literature Between 1990 and 2007

In response to the mounting national support provided to mentoring programs and initiatives in higher education, the present article updates a review article written by Jacobi (Rev Educ Res 61(4):505–532, 1991). The article revisits the mentoring literature in an attempt to re-frame and update the definition and characteristics of mentoring provided by Jacobi. It also synthesizes and critically analyzes empirical literature specific to mentoring college students published between 1990 and 2007. Finally, the article presents broad theoretical perspectives of mentoring from the business, psychology and education literature in preface to a proposed theoretical framework specific to mentoring college students. The article concludes with specific recommendations to advance the mentoring literature.

Hybridity in a Guidance Curriculum in Hong Kong

This paper presents findings on a hybrid guidance curriculum in Hong Kong, a place where East meets West in education and in many other spheres. A qualitative case study method is applied that uses questions for understanding the ‘self’ in guidance but incorporates Confucian cardinal human relationships of parent–child, brother–sister, husband–wife, superior–subordinate, teacher–pupil and friend–friend in understanding the ‘other’ relationships. The study of ‘self–other relationship’ is combined with Lawton’s (Social change, educational theory and curriculum planning, Hodder, London, 1973) model of curriculum development in Western traditions. Data obtained from stakeholders in schools include traditional Chinese ideas as well as modern Western ideas. Implications of this framework to the study of other societies with a mix of Western and traditional cultures are discussed.